May 25, 1876 ("weather permitting"). From Milan (Porta Magenta, via San Pietro in Sala) to Turin (the Porta Milano barrier), 150 km. Participation ("entry") free (but "the race will not take place if there are fewer than ten cyclists"). Ready-go at four ("antim", that is, in the morning): and there were only eight starters. The first Milan-Turin in history would be won by Paolo Magretti. Milanese, 21 years old. Family of engineers, he – quite a scandal – an entomologist, passionate about the bicycle when it wasn't even called that yet, curious about cycling when it seemed more like an adventure than a sport. Magretti reached the finish line after 11 hours at the unimpressive average of 13 kilometers per hour, ahead of three other indomitable pioneers.

Magretti's story overlaps with that of Paolo and Marcus: all three in love with the bicycle, all three captivated by hymenoptera, that order of insects which, among 120,000 species, includes wasps and bees, ants and hornets, all three but in different eras (Magretti between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Paolo between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Marcus in the twenty-first century) and with different expertise (Magretti as a naturalist and explorer, as a scientist and researcher, Paolo as a shopkeeper and scholar, Marcus as an enthusiast and scholar). But the attraction to the bicycle and to insects – more love than interest – seems like a sign of destiny. And perhaps it is.

"Forever Never Again" (Teka Edizioni, 192 pages, 12 euros) is the novel in which Gianluca Alzati (the author of "I Wanted to Be a Cyclist", Ediciclo, about the story of Morena Tartagni) connects Magretti to Paolo and Marcus: life is a trajectory, and their trajectories – on foot or on two wheels – brush against each other and intersect, become trails and traces, transform into escapes and pursuits, and in the end find their own finish line, as well as their own meaning and their own peace. The novel is from 2019, but returns as new every time the Milan-Turin race takes place (the next one will be on March 18, from Rho to the Superga).

Magretti's pages, literarily autobiographical, written in italics, those of Paolo and Marcus in regular type. Magretti's pages formal, refined, almost noble, in a nineteenth-century style, those of Paolo and Marcus contemporary, bare and raw. Magretti's pages rich in adjectives, those of Paolo and Marcus urban and rock, problematic and even shocking. But then all it takes is a bike ride to discharge the pressures, release the tensions, find a direction again, identify a destination.

The 1876 Milan-Turin began "before sunrise", "it wasn't raining yet when the starter raised the gun", "a hairpin curve, made slippery by rain, caused one rider to abandon", "we were down to seven crossing the rice fields of Lomellina", "the two at the head of the group began to overtake each other" until "in the continuous skirmishes to compete for the momentary first position, one's elbow caught the other's handlebars and the two dragged each other to the ground", finally "first of four surviving riders, four pioneers of a new sport that would soon become very popular", "waiting for us was a large and festive crowd, including some women with open umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun and waving fans to cool their faces".